IT firms think Brexit could be a great business opportunity

Majority of European businesses see Brexit as a chance to boost profits, but also as a worrying sign of political instability.

Shares

Britain's decision to leave the European Union could be set to provide a great business opportunity for companies willing to step up to the mark, new research has claimed.

A majority of senior IT figures across Europe said that the move could provide their business with a great opportunity - even among businesses based in the UK, a survey by Interoute found.

Surveying over 800 IT deicision makers, including 170 from the UK, Interoute found that on average, 70 per cent said that Brexit could be an opportunity for their company. Confidence was highest in France, where 83 per cent thought this would be the case, with Belgium (78 per cent) and Italy (76 per cent) also scoring highly.

However Brexit was named as a top concern for many businesses, with 95 per cent admitting it had impacted their decision-making process for the year ahead. However this uncertainty had encouraged many companies to adjust their focus when it comes to business practices, the survey found.

On average, 61 per cent across Europe said they were now pursuing new digital transformation projects in order to achieve growth in the year ahead, with the UK scoring highly on 60 per cent. The top motivations behind digital transformation project included reducing costs by improving operations (46 per cent), enhancing the employee experience through more mobile and social capabilities (45 per cent) and improving the customer experience (41 per cent).

“The UK and mainland Europe is in the middle of a period of political uncertainly, which is impacting IT decision makers across all sectors," said Matthew Finnie, Interoute CTO.

"The more ambitious organisations see this as a time of opportunity where the right technology investments will result in high growth and an enhanced experience for employees and customers alike. Changing foreign policy politics, Brexit and even new GDPR regulations are forcing organisations to review the legal, financial and operational aspects of their business. "

"Digital transformation is about creating an organisation that is flexible enough to respond to market and geopolitical changes. Organisations that move now to ensure they have the right digital infrastructure foundation in place will undoubtedly be the best placed to succeed in these uncertain times.”